


Familiar Landscapes

by gemzies



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst, Bad Days, Birthday, Flashbacks, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hospitalization, I have no earthly idea what to tag this with, I may have projected my own feelings about Finn's booking here, Illness, Kinda?, M/M, Mutual Pining, it might get a bit cheesy, not my best work but I'm posting it anyway because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 19:20:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemzies/pseuds/gemzies
Summary: After leaked news leads to him thinking he screwed things up with his crush, Finn is prepared for a not-great birthday. He ends up having a worse day than he could have ever imagined, but a trip to the emergency room somehow turns everything around.





	Familiar Landscapes

**Author's Note:**

> The original idea for this came when Finn had to miss the Smackville special due to illness, but then my brain kind of took off and ran away from me. Again.
> 
> Title is from the song "Familiar Landscapes" by New Found Glory.

It wasn’t exactly ideal. He knew that, deep down inside, but at that moment he really didn’t care. As he sat on the dock behind his house, looking out at the lake as the sun began to set in front of him, Finn told himself he was completely content to spend the following day – his birthday – by himself.

He hadn’t originally planned on that. His original plan for the day involved inviting a certain someone over, spending the day with them, and if things went the way he hoped he’d end his birthday with the gift he wanted most: finally having Seth Rollins in his arms. And possibly finally having Seth Rollins in his bed, if he was to let himself get greedy. They’d been dancing around each other for far too long, and Finn was ready to pull the trigger. But he and Seth hadn’t talked since the day after Extreme Rules. And as hurt as he still was by what had happened, he had come to accept that it was actually all his own fault.

**

_“Were you going to tell anyone?” Seth demanded as he entered the locker room and spotted Finn. His brown eyes were full of fire, an anger there that Finn was surprised to find directed at himself. “Were you going to tell _me_?”_

_Finn was so startled by the outburst he almost fell off the bench he was sitting on. He took a quick glance around the room to confirm they were alone, the rest of the boys either running their segments or hanging out somewhere. “Tell anyone what?” He looked on in confusion as Seth raised an eyebrow at him. “What are you talking about?”_

_Seth walked over to Finn and shoved his phone in the Irishman’s face. “That.”_

_Finn took the phone from Seth so he could see it more clearly. The headline staring back at him took him completely by surprise. _‘Finn Bálor to Take Time Off; Requests Two Months Off from WWE’_. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he muttered as he handed Seth back his phone. He ran a hand through his short brown hair before looking up at Seth again. “Seth…”_

_“Why didn’t you talk to me about this?” Seth snapped, cutting him off before he could really get going._

_Finn shook his head. “I haven’t talked to _anyone_ about it, Seth. The only people I told were Hunter and Vince.” He sighed as he looked up into Seth’s eyes. The anger that had been there seemed to have dissipated a little, but it was replaced with what appeared to be hurt. _No_, Finn thought as he looked a little deeper_, it’s disappointment. He’s disappointed in me_. “I put in the request last Tuesday,” he explained. “I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it was approved. They didn’t confirm with me until right before my match last night.”_

_Seth’s shoulders dropped slightly. He backed away from Finn and sat down on the bench across from him. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before Seth looked at Finn again. “Why?” he questioned softly. He ran a hand through his dark hair and adjusted the bun he’d thrown his curls into. “I… I guess I don’t understand.” _

_Finn wasn’t sure if he was talking about the time off or the lack of communication. “What don’t you understand?”_

_Seth sighed. “I… why do you have to leave? Like, I get that it hasn’t been great for you here lately. But you know Vince, you know how vindictive he is. Unless you’re Randy-fucking-Orton asking for time off could be career suicide.” He was rambling, fidgeting with his hands as the words fell out of him. “Couldn’t we have figured something out?”_

_Finn felt the anger rising in his chest as Seth spoke, and he looked down at the floor to try and control himself. He wasn’t angry at Seth, exactly, he knew Seth had his best interests at heart. He was angry at everything else. “What would that have done? It’s not like we get to see each other anymore,” he spat in response. He looked back up at Seth and immediately regretted it._

_Seth looked like he’d been slapped. “What, so you think that just because we’re not on the same brand anymore you can just disappear into the damn ether?”_

_For some reason that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Finn. He shot up from his seat, venom spilling from every pore as he looked down at the younger man. “What fucking difference would it make? I might as well have retired after Wrestlemania with all the use I’ve been lately.” _

_“Finn…” Seth began, but Finn couldn’t stop the vitriol that suddenly wanted to pour out of him. He’d been holding it in far too long._

_“Remember when we went out for drinks after the shows in Montreal? How much we complained about being split up, but how excited we both were? All those things I told you Hunter had promised me would happen now that I was on Smackdown? How’d that play out for me, huh?” Finn began pacing, hands balled into fists as he continued ranting, the anger continuing to build the more he thought about it. “I accepted them moving my match into the death slot at Wrestlemania without complaint. Worked an extra show each week in Europe so I could do the Raw house shows and Smackdown tv and didn’t say a word. Brought out the damn demon in Saudi Arabia even though I didn’t even want to fucking be there. And what did that get me, being the professional? The company guy?”_

_“Finn, please…” Seth tried again._

_Finn was shaking. He stopped pacing and looked down at Seth, barely even able to register the concerned look on his friend’s face. “It got me absolutely NOTHING, Seth!” he yelled, not caring who might hear on the other side of the door. “I broke my damn back in the Money in the Bank match for _nothing._ I took a powerbomb and a chokeslam onto a ladder just so Brock Lesnar could waltz in and take the briefcase. I was left off the card for Stomping Grounds. I was the Intercontinental Champion for fuck’s sake, but I spent more time in catering than I did defending the title because creative couldn’t be bothered to find me a match until they needed to take the damn belt off me!”_

_Finn plopped back down on the bench and put his head in his hands, suddenly drained from his long overdue outburst. “I just… I just need some time to figure out if this is really what I want anymore,” he finished with a sigh._

_Seth was quiet for a moment. He stood up and crossed the room, sitting down next to Finn and putting his arm around him. Finn leaned into the embrace, resting his head on Seth’s shoulder and letting the familiar comfort of Seth’s body ease the tension in his own. They sat in silence like that for a few minutes, Seth gently running his hand up and down Finn’s arm as Finn tried to steady his breathing. “Would it… would it have been different if you were still on Raw?” he asked softly._

_Finn knew what he was really asking. He thought about it for what felt like ages before answering, shifting so he could look Seth in the eyes. “Honestly? Right now, I… I don’t know.”_

_Seth’s face fell. He nodded, hastily removing his arm from Finn and biting his bottom lip as he stood up. “Got it.” His voice was flat, emotionless, and it made Finn cringe. Seth scratched his beard absently, looking around everywhere but at Finn before speaking again. “Well, uh, good luck, I guess. I hope you find what you’re looking for.” He walked out of the room without even a backwards glance._

_Finn felt his heart fall to pieces as he watched Seth walk away from him. For one of the only times in his life he wished he had lied, given the answer he knew the younger man wanted to hear instead of telling the truth. But it was too late for that. He slid off the bench and onto the floor, curling his knees into his chest as he tried to fight off the tears that threatened to fall._

**

Finn sighed as he watched the last remaining light of the day fade to nothingness. He convinced himself that he was glad that no one had asked him if he had any plans for his birthday yet. Told himself it was easier than having to explain to everyone why he was choosing to hide at home all day. He tried to trick himself into thinking that this would be better for him anyway, that even if his original plans hadn’t fallen through there was no guarantee he’d even get what he wanted, so at least this way he didn’t have to worry about getting his hopes up for nothing. But he never could lie to himself all that well.

He got up and slowly headed back inside. His mouth felt dry, almost sticky, but instead of a glass of water he reached into his liquor cabinet to pour himself a shot of whiskey. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, and he was hoping the alcohol would help him fall asleep quickly despite the early hour. He needed to turn his brain off for a bit so he could stop thinking about everything. Or at least stop thinking about his ruined chances with Seth.

*****

He knew something wasn’t right the minute he woke up. It felt like his stomach was riding a tilt-a-whirl, the room beginning to spin in the early morning light as he tried to sit up. He cursed to himself as he tried to get out of bed a second time, rolling to his side so he could throw his legs over the edge of the bed and slowly pushing himself upright. The nausea hit him the minute he stood up, and he somehow managed to get to the en suite bathroom before losing the contents of his stomach.

“Fuck me,” he muttered after flushing the toilet. He sat and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He focused on trying to control his breathing, on the feeling of the floor underneath him, on anything he could to try and keep the queasy feeling away. It didn’t work, another wave hitting him with such force he felt like he was going to pass out.

_Okay, Finn. Think,_ he ordered himself as he sat next to the toilet between spells. _What do you usually need when you’re sick?_  
_Water_  
_ Gatorade_  
_ Check your temperature._  
_ Medicine… do I even have any medicine for this?_

His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach, and the list he’d been trying to create evaporated as he leaned over the toilet again. Once finished he let himself fall back onto the bathroom floor, the cold tile feeling amazing against his skin as his world went black.

*****

Pain. That was the first thing Finn registered when he came to. Everything hurt. The second thing he noticed was that he felt wet, a layer of cold sweat sitting on top of his burning body and nearly soaking his boxers. He opened his eyes slowly, not recognizing where he was for a second before the events of the morning came back to him. He had no idea how long he’d been out, and part of him wasn’t even sure if he’d passed out or fallen asleep. The nausea was still crashing into him, and he forced himself upright as the waves overwhelmed him again. His body heaved but nothing came out, and alarm bells started going off in his head despite his mind being too muddy to understand why.

He tried to stand up and make his way back to his bed, but the room tilted violently the moment he tried to take a step and he crashed back down to his knees. He began to crawl instead, moving carefully to try to avoid aggravating his aching joints or swimming head. As he got close to the nightstand he heard his phone start buzzing, and he channeled his remaining energy to reach up and grab it before collapsing down onto the carpet. He closed his eyes to fight off the vertigo as he answered, his voice weak and rough as he forced the sound out. “…Sami?”

_“Finn?”_ He could hear the instant panic in his friend’s voice through the phone. _“Finn, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”_

“Cabhair liom le do thoil.”

_“Okay, I speak a bunch of languages, but Gaelic isn’t one of them. Please tell me what’s going on,” _Sami pled.

Finn didn’t even realize he wasn’t speaking English. He tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t. “I need… hospital… please…” he stammered.

_“I’ll be there in five minutes. Is your spare key still in the same place?”_

Finn muttered what he hoped was a coherent response before letting the phone fall out of his hand. He managed to roll over so he was facing the door, curling up into a ball as he waited for Sami to arrive.

He woke up with the sound of someone shouting his name, unaware that he had passed out again shortly after the call ended. He tried to respond but nothing came out, so instead he focused on staying awake as the voice started coming closer.

“FINN!” Sami Zayn’s awkward frame suddenly entered his vision, the expression on his face near-horrified as he spotted Finn lying on the floor. “Oh God, Finn,” he exclaimed as he dropped down to his knees next to him. A cold hand was placed on Finn’s forehead, the shock of it causing him to shiver. “Holy shit, you’re burning up.” The hand was removed as Sami stood up, and he could vaguely hear water running for a second before he felt something wet and cool swipe over his brow and beard. The rag was wiped over his back and chest, and he began shivering again as the air hit the dampness on his skin.

He heard drawers opening and closing, and then Sami’s worried face appeared again. “Come on, buddy, let’s get you dressed so we can go to the emergency room.”

Finn nodded as Sami slowly sat him up, helping him get a shirt and shorts on and sliding a pair of sandals on his feet. He allowed Sami to get him on his feet, his friend shouldering all his weight as he carefully helped him out of the house and into his car. He curled up again into the seat and rested his head against the window as Sami started the car, groaning as the movement of the car gave his stomach an unwelcome jolt. He heard Sami telling him to stay with him, and that they were almost there, before he blacked out again.

*****

He was vaguely aware of something beeping. The smell of chemicals filled his nose, and there was a strange, sharp pain in his right arm. As he continued to gradually come to his senses, he felt his arms resting on stiff cloth, and realized that he wasn’t completely flat – whatever he was laying on was tilted so he was sitting up a bit. He frowned at how weird everything was, but as he opened his eyes it all began to make sense.

Finn looked around his hospital room, taking in the light blue walls and ugly linoleum flooring. He glanced to his left and saw the monitor he was hooked up to, a small table underneath it by his bedside. He noticed the two unoccupied chairs a little bit away from the bed, and the empty bench in front of the window.

“Mr. Bálor?” The nurse’s voice was soft but still startled Finn. He hadn’t even realized someone had opened the door. “Sorry to scare you,” she apologized as she entered the room and walked over to the computer on the right side of his bed. “I’m just here to check your vital signs and your IV. How are you feeling?”

Finn had to think about it for a moment. “Um… a little less like death than I did earlier, I think?”

The nurse laughed. “Well, that’s good at least.” She looked down at the identification band around his wrist as she asked him to confirm his name and date of birth. “Oh, happy birthday!” she chirped cheerfully as she turned back to the computer.

_Yeah, right,_ he thought bitterly as he thanked her for the sentiment.

Finn could hear her typing as she began to question him, asking if he was still experiencing dizziness (“a little lightheaded, but the room’s stopped spinning”), pain (“nothing like it was earlier at least”) and how his stomach was doing (“…not great”). She asked his permission before pressing the button to activate a blood pressure cuff he hadn’t realized was on his arm, placing a thermometer in his mouth at the same time. After typing the results into the computer, she turned to face him. “I’m going to give you some more medication, and then the doctor will be coming in to talk to you soon. Your fever is going down, so that’s good,” she told him. “Would you like some water?”

Finn nodded, thanking the nurse as she started to head out of the room. He glanced briefly at the monitor to see his temperature reading. 101°f. _That’s an improvement?_

The nurse stopped right before she got to the door, turning around again to face him. “I almost forgot. Are you okay with visitors?” she asked with a smile.

“Visitors?” He was confused by the plural. The only person who knew he was there was Sami, right? “Sure, visitors are fine,” he replied cautiously.

The nurse smiled again as she left the room, and a paranoia he hadn’t felt since his shoulder surgery began to creep though Finn’s brain at the thought of fans somehow finding out he was in the hospital. Wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened, memories of being swarmed for autographs at airports and cornered in hotel elevators for pictures filtering through his mind. But the last thing he needed was the dirt sheets finding out about this before he had a chance to tell his employer. That was an angry phone call from Hunter waiting to happen, and he really didn’t want to deal with the fallout from that on top of everything else.

The nurse came back a few minutes later as promised, setting a cup of water with a straw on the table next to him before adding the medication to the mixture in his IV. Then she left and he was alone again. Finn wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

He laid there by himself for a little while that felt longer. It occurred to him as he felt the hospital gown he was wearing slip from his shoulder a bit that he had no idea where his clothes were, if Sami had grabbed his wallet or phone as he was helping him out of the house, or even if Sami still had his spare key or if he would find himself locked out when he got home. Whenever that would be. _Where is Sami, anyway?_ He wondered; a bit surprised that his friend hadn’t come to check on him yet. Then again, he had completely derailed Sami’s day, so he couldn’t blame him if his friend had left.

Finn sighed and turned his head so he could look out the window. The sun had only just begun to set, the sky still blue but the clouds holding a light orange tint. It was beautiful, but he felt too shitty and was too in his own head to really appreciate it. _Happy birthday to me,_ he thought dejectedly.

He heard a light knock on the door, and he took as deep a breath as his body would let him. He prepared himself to speak with the doctor, but also braced himself in case it _wasn’t_ the doctor or Sami or anyone else he knew. That deep breath wasn’t enough to prepare him for the big brown eyes that briefly met his when the door opened, however, and his own tired eyes went wide with surprise. “Seth?” he said in disbelief.

Seth didn’t say anything. He closed the door behind him, then grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it a little closer to the bed. He sat down and removed the hat he’d been wearing, running a hand over his messy hair before finally looking up at Finn. “Hi,” he replied softly, the small smile on his lips failing to hide the concern in his eyes as they met Finn’s again. “How are you feeling?”

Finn was having a hard time accepting what was happening. “Seth, I… what are you doing here?”

He could have sworn Seth blushed a little. “I flew in this morning,” he started, looking down at his hands as they played with his hat nervously. “I was… I was going to surprise you for your birthday,” he rushed out.

“You were going to…” Finn trailed off, trying to process Seth’s confession.

Seth nodded. “I had told Sami yesterday; he was going to pick me up from the airport. Instead I was greeted by a voicemail when I got off the plane saying you were in the emergency room. I called Sami back and he told me what happened and I…” Seth stopped, swallowing hard as he tried to choke back his emotions.

Seth fished his phone out of his pocket. He swiped at the screen for a moment before holding it up so Finn could see. It was a picture of himself, eyes closed and still in his street clothes, laying on a gurney in the ER, presumably waiting to be admitted. Finn had no recollection of any of it.

“I came straight here,” Seth finished as he put his phone away.

Finn was about to reach out and try to grab Seth’s hand, but another knock on the door interrupted the moment. The doctor walked in and introduced himself, and Seth started to get up and leave. “No, it’s okay,” Finn said quickly. His voice sounded like he’d been swallowing sandpaper and felt just as bad. “Please stay?” he asked quietly, and Seth nodded and returned to his seat.

The doctor stepped over to the computer and pulled up Finn’s information. “Well, Mr. Bálor, it looks like you’ve got a particularly nasty stomach bug,” he stated, going over his various symptoms and asking him how he was feeling the same way the nurse had earlier. “Your chart says you’re an athlete?” Finn nodded, and he could hear Seth snort softly in the background. “Have you changed your training regimen or anything recently?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Finn could feel his cheeks turn a bit pink. Damned pale Irish skin. “I may have been going a bit harder in the gym the last couple weeks,” he admitted.

The doctor nodded. “Did you work out yesterday?” Finn nodded, and the doctor continued. “Any change in your drinking habits?”

Finn bit his lip. “A little,” he answered, looking up at the doctor and hoping he wouldn’t have to explain any further. He could feel Seth’s eyes on him, and he diverted his own to his hands.

The doctor nodded again and folded his arms. “The reason I’m asking, is it looks like you were already a bit dehydrated before your symptoms developed. Being depleted like that might explain why it hit you so hard,” he explained. The doctor began going over warning signs of dehydration and how to avoid it, things Finn knew and had stupidly ignored in his determination to drive his emotions out of his mind. He felt like an idiot.

The doctor went over a couple more things relating to his illness, and explained they were keeping him overnight as a precaution. Then he exited the room, and Finn and Seth were finally left alone again.

An awkward silence filled the room. Finn looked over at Seth, almost studying him now that the shock of him walking into the room had worn off. He looked tired and a bit disheveled, probably from the early flight. He was playing with his hat again, running fingers along the brim as he stared down at his hands. He almost looked… guilty? No, that couldn’t be it. “Seth, I want to apologize…”

“No.” Finn’s eyebrows raised as Seth cut him off. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he reiterated, shaking his head. Seth finally looked up at him again, and only now did Finn notice the faint red rims around his eyes. “I do.”

Seth took a deep breath and stood up, taking a couple steps forward until he was standing directly next to the bed. “I’m sorry for walking out on you that night,” he said softly. He must have seen the confusion on Finn’s face because he continued. “You got all that stuff off your chest, stuff you’d been holding onto for who knows how long, and I just took off like some selfish prick. All because I didn’t get the answer I wanted to a question I had no right to be asking at that moment.” He started to reach out towards Finn but stopped short, grabbing the railing along the side of the bed instead. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, the words feeling more tender and honest than the first time he’d said them.

Finn just laid there for a second, his eyes searching Seth’s, not having the energy to unpack the second part of that apology. “It’s…” he started to answer, but his throat had gotten so dry all that came out was a pained croak.

Seth grabbed the cup of water off the table and gently held the straw up to Finn’s lips. “Better?” he asked with a warm smile as he pulled it away a few sips later.

Finn nodded, a small smile of his own forming. “Better because you’re here,” he quipped, too out of it to stop himself and only realizing what he’d said after watching Seth’s eyebrows shoot up. Whether it was the medication starting to kick in, pure exhaustion, or his heart finally winning instead of his brain he couldn’t tell. But he kept talking. “You know, I was going to ask if you wanted to come over today, before all of that happened. If you didn’t have plans at home in Iowa or anything that is,” he rambled. He reached up and took a weak hold of Seth’s hand, and melted a little when Seth laced his fingers in his own. “I’d wanted to spend the day with you. I was… I was going to ask you out.” Finn felt a weight he hadn’t known he’d been carrying disappear from his shoulders as he spoke.

Seth’s jaw dropped slightly, his eyes widening. “You were?” he answered, the words barely audible.

Shitty circumstances be damned, Finn was going to put all his cards on the table before whatever was giving him this courage wore off. “You were the only thing I wanted for my birthday,” he confessed.

The grin that spread across Seth’s face could have lit the entire city of Orlando. He brought Finn’s hand up to his lips, kissing his knuckles softly before wrapping his other hand around it. “If I’d known that I would have worn a bow on my head like a present,” he joked.

Finn laughed. “Would you let me unwrap my gift?” he replied with a wink.

A strange sound came from Seth’s throat at Finn’s blatant proposition. “Easy now, sicky,” he chided with a slight chuckle. “Let’s save that for when you’re out of the hospital, alright?”

Finn laughed again. His eyelids were starting to feel heavy, and he sighed contentedly as he looked into Seth’s eyes again. “I love you,” he said softly as he began to drift off.

Seth leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Finn’s forehead. “Sleep now, babe,” he whispered against his skin. Finn felt one of the hands release his own, and heard the sound of the chair being dragged closer so Seth could sit directly beside him. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” he promised.

Finn nodded as his eyes finally closed. But before he fell asleep completely, he heard Seth give him the best birthday gift he could have asked for.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Irish translation via Google: “Please help me”  
(please correct me if this is wrong, I know google translate isn't always 100% accurate)


End file.
